Freed hostage Agam Berger gifted violin that survived Holocaust

Built in Czechia, the violin belonged to a musician who played in an orchestra and was killed in the Holocaust.

 Agam Berger, 19, held captive by Hamas. (photo credit: COURTESY OF THE FAMILY)
Agam Berger, 19, held captive by Hamas.
(photo credit: COURTESY OF THE FAMILY)

Freed hostage Agam Berger was gifted a 130-year-old violin that survived the Holocaust, Ynet reported on Monday. 

Built in the Czech Republic, the violin belonged to a musician who was killed in the Holocaust.

Tzachi Beck, who refurbished and took care of the instrument, gave the violin to Berger, who is also a violinist. 

"Suddenly hearing the sounds of the violin from the skilled hands of the amazing Agam Berger – it was an emotional moment, as the violin came back to life," Beck said, according to the Israeli news outlet.

"Agam is a true survivor. She said she would play and practice on the violin and take it to the March of the Living, where she will play it. That will be a true full circle moment," Beck further stated. 

"Now it has reached real hands, Agam’s hands, who will breathe life back into it. Fittingly, on International Women's Day, the violin is passing to an amazing woman and true survivor who has brought it back to life—and she will continue the melody that will never cease.

Beck praised Berger's "incredible strength," adding that "just watching her is unbelievable." 

"I am certain that the violin has reached the right place at the right time," Beck affirmed. 

According to Ynet, the violin was brought to Israel by Motel Bering who survived the Holocaust. His son Itzhak kept the instrument and eventually gave it to Beck.  


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'Owner came back to life'

"When I saw the violin producing sounds again, I felt that its owner, who was an orchestral violinist, had come back to life," Bering noted.

Upon receiving the violin, Berger played Amir Benayoun's "You overcame everything with me."

Berger was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz base during the October 7 massacre. She was released by Hamas in later January, following 482 days in captivity.